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Milan-Torino Preview: Sitting Bull

For those of you familiar with American history, you’ll
recognize the name of Sitting Bull. He was a Lakota spiritual leader who
inspired victories for his people such as the Battle of Little Bighorn, aka
Custer’s Last Stand. Well the Bulls of Torino also have a spiritual leader
whose name you will recognize: Sinisa Mihajlovic. And he has led his people to
9th place on the table, just one point behind Milan, despite having
missed his star scorer, Belotti, for a while to injury. And yes, that is the Belotti
that Milan fans wanted this summer. But he’s back alongside the unpredictable
Ljajic, the underrated Iago Falque, and our former Niang. Together, they create
a formidable attack that any team should be wary of, especially if their coach
is like Sitting Bull.

Miss you

Mihajlovic has Torino playing well enough, and with a bit
more luck, they’d be even higher on the table. They have drawn more times than
any other team, winning four, drawing six, and losing three. They drew last
weekend to Chievo, dropping points due to a rare Belotti penalty miss. For that
fateful match, Mihajlovic lined up Sirigu; Burdisso, N’Koulou, Ansaldi, De
Silvestri, Baselli, Obi, Rincon, Belotti, Ljajic, and Iago Falque. It appears
he should have a full or nearly full roster to choose from for tomorrow’s
match.

Montella is no Sitting Bull. Well he’s stubborn, but he’s no
spiritual or inspirational leader. Any success this team are going to have will be in spite of
him, not thanks to him. It was discovered today that in 22 matches, he’s used
22 different lineups. Allegri much? So now he is being criticized for his excessive
rotation. But when you can’t match up your trousers and socks, it takes a lot
of time in the closet.

Miss you, too

Most specifically, he faces criticism for not
using Cutrone and Silva more in the league. They both have the highest
number of goals with the least starts for Milan. But of course, most of those
goals came in the Europa League, against lesser defenses. But the truth is, no
one knows what they can do in Serie A, because they’ve barely been allowed to
play there. Unable to play due to injury are of course Conti, Calabria, and
Abate. The good news is that Suso and Romagnoli are back. Bonucci has a slight
knee problem, but has been called up, much to the disappointment of his son, I’m
sure. Kalinic has been called up of course, because Montella prefers to watch
his experience in not scoring than the lack of experience that Cutrone and
Silva have in not scoring. I just want the goals, but wouldn’t mind the younger
players getting more time.

Where is the love?

Will this match be Montella’s Last Stand? Unlikely.
According to some poorly written investigative news articles, Milan’s ownership
is not who they said they were, and fans have every right to worry, even if that's not really news. For that
and the fact that all signs show there isn’t much money available, Montella has job
security by poverty. And lack of a decent replacement. But this game will be very tough, and pits our former
striker and coach against our new purchases and coach. At least Mihajlovic knew
how to match up his clothes. It’s not a cause like the Battle of Little
Bighorn, but it does pit two teams against each other who are fighting for
European spots for next year. And one coach is more of a sitting duck, while
Torino’s coach is more of a modern Sitting Bull.